"Please Find My Daughter," She Reported Repeatedly... 4-Year-Old Found Dead

Mother and father each reported the other for child abuse
Police: "No warning signs found during eight in-person visits"

A father in his 40s and his 4-year-old daughter were found dead inside a car in Jeju.

Jeju Police Agency logo. Yonhap News.

According to the Jeju Provincial Police Agency and the Jeju Fire Safety Headquarters, among others, a man in his 40s, identified as A, and his 4-year-old daughter were found dead at around 6:08 p.m. on October 12 inside a rental car parked at an oreum parking lot in Pyoseon-myeon, Seogwipo City. There were reportedly signs that a charcoal briquette had been burned inside the car, but no will or note was found.

A brought his daughter to Korea in late October 2025 while he was going through divorce proceedings with his wife, B, in Australia. He is believed to have stayed in Seoul before moving to Seogwipo City on Jeju Island. A is a Korean national, while B is an Australian national of Korean descent. Their daughter was born in Australia in 2022.

On March 30, B won a case at the Seoul Family Court seeking the return of the child under the Hague Convention and received authorization for enforcement. A Hague Convention return application is a procedure through which a request is filed with a competent court to return a child under 16 to the country where the child originally lived—in this case, Australia—when the child has been wrongfully removed or retained in violation of custody rights.

B came from Australia to Korea to take her daughter back, but was unable to see her because the two had each reported the other to the police for child abuse in November 2025. B also added a claim of kidnapping and enticement against A, who she said had ignored her and brought their daughter to Korea.

On March 22, after a neighbor reported suspected child abuse by A, the Seogwipo Police Station and Seogwipo City conducted two on-site investigations and referred the case to prosecutors. Prosecutors found no grounds for charges of kidnapping and enticement or child abuse, as alleged by B, and decided not to indict A on either count.

On April 13, B filed a missing person report for her daughter with the Seogwipo Police Station and asked for assistance in enforcing the custody order. At the time, the police held a video call with A to check on the child and then told B that her daughter was doing well. The following day, A came to Hamdeok Police Substation with his daughter to confirm their safety.

On October 2, A, who has since died, told the daycare center in Seogwipo City that his daughter attended that they would be moving to the United States and she would no longer attend.

After learning this, B requested emergency measures from an Australian court, which ruled on October 3 that her daughter's passport should be revoked.

B also expressed concern to the Jeju Provincial Police Agency about A's actions and asked it to confirm her daughter's whereabouts and take steps to ensure her safety. She also said A had depression related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after being involved in a truck-related traffic accident in Australia and requested that he be separated from the child, but her request was not granted.

A police official said, "There did not appear to be any specific signs of danger, and we offer our condolences that this tragedy occurred while we were continuing to monitor the situation." The official added, "An associate said there had been no signs of anything unusual at a recent daycare sports day, and it was difficult to find any particular warning signs during the eight in-person visits conducted with Seogwipo City and others since November 2025."

Meanwhile, police are investigating the exact circumstances of the two deaths.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.